#and like because earrings AREN’T gender-locked it makes things all the more baffling because like.

[regallibellbright]

According to the fashion game, leggings appear to be exclusively menswear and tank tops are exclusively for women. If there ARE Type A leggings and Type B tank tops, they’re locked only at the highest ranking, which given how simple a basic tank top would be I’m suspecting means they’re not there.

I’ll note that this was not the case for either item type in Styling Star, which makes this decision/oversight/Weirdass Choice even more baffling.

I hate this gender lock so, so much on practical levels alone.

[meikodenji]

CODA

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6:

Right Here

Proteins bars? Some homeless-looking guy giving you a hard time? And he busts karate on you? Huh.

Johnny was filling out a form in the office while the teens clean up around the dojo. As Miguel washed the window of the small room, he questioned, "Hey, Sensei, is there any particular way you want us to clean?" "No, I don't give a shit. Whatever's easiest. " He finished up. "You know what? You two go clean the restroom and we'll call it a night." "Okay. C'mon, Joey." "Right behind you.

The blonde smiled, "And do that one on your hands and knees." He chuckled, the boys going straight to work.

Daniel made his way into the dojo. He kept a hard gaze on the cobra right by the doors. Unknowingly, Johnny greets the person, "Welcome to Cobra Kai."

"Somethings never change." LaRusso threw. Johnny stood at his end, "yeah, what are you talking about?" "I heard you beat up a bunch of teenagers in that parking lot." He pointed. "Oh, that." Lawrence said in his defense. "No. I didn't beat up any teenagers." The blonde slowly made his way into the middle of the mat, closer to LaRusso. "I kicked the shit out of a bunch of assholes who deserved it." The brunette scoffed at him. "Wow. Johnny Lawrence calling someone else an asshole. That's rich, man." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Look. I'm not here to rehash the past. Just stay away from my daughter's friends." "Your daughter's friends?" Johnny bit back a smile. "Yeah, that makes sense. Nice company she keeps." "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" "It means those friends of hers were wailing on a kid half their size." All true. "Maybe you don't know your daughter as well as you think you do. Get your house in order, LaRusso." Daniel quickly made his way to his rival. "Who the hell you think you're talking to?" At that moment, Byers and Diaz came out of a clean bathroom. "Bathroom's clean!" Miguel shouted. "Is there anything else you need us to do?" Johnny stopped them The boys were baffled at the sight of their Sensei and Daniel. They apologized, "Sorry, Sensei." "Sensei? Really?" Daniel said, unbelievably. He felt like the boy who stood beside Miguel, looked rather familiar. "Oh my God, kids, I don't know what he's told you but you shouldn't believe a word he says, or you're gonna end up exactly like him." He turned to Johnny. "You and I. This. We aren't done." He went to exit the dojo. Johnny put his arms up. "I'm right here, man." The other man scoffed, brushing him off. J: "Sorry if we interrupted anything, Sensei." M: "20 push ups on our knuckles?" He kept his eyes on the man in his car, chuckling at the boy's question. "Right. Like you could. Johnny smugly smiled at Daniel.

...

Will knocked on his son's bedroom door. "Joey, ven a poner la mesa." He put his ear on the door to listen behind the blasting 80s rock. He heard his son throwing punches in the air. "Joseph!"

"¡Saldré en un minuto!" He replied. "¡Tu tío Jonathan y yo hicimos tacos de asada!"

"Okay!"

Joey sat, eating the asada tacos his father and uncle cooked up. "They're good. So, what's going on, tío?" Will drank his soda as his older brother spoke. "Wanted to stay for a while and Rae told me to take care of you two." W: "And, the wife." Jon winced, nodding. "The kids are out of town and she's nagging right now. Wanting more, uh, sensual things." "Bleh!" Joey jokingly cringed. "Yeah, bleh." His father agreed. "Oh! Have you decided what you're going as for the Halloween dance?" Joseph thought, "Well, yeah, I thought about going as Freddy Kruger but the costume is expensive." "Oh, don't worry, J. He's got you." Jon said with a smile. "And what happened there?" He pointed at his nephew's knuckles. "You don't wanna know." Will teasingly answered. Joseph looked at his father, "What?" The two Byers brothers laughed at the confused child. --

Joseph and Miguel did their training as Johnny went through papers. He walked out of his office, talking to his current students. "Hey, you guys don't happen to have any friends who wanna learn karate, do you?" They were very concentrated, letting his question go. "Aw, what am I saying? You don't have any friends. Sorry." Miguel paused, turning to Johnny. "Hey, Sensei, when will the kicking begin? I saw this YouTube video of a guy breaking boards, and it looked badass." "Yeah, no shit. Kicking is badass. But you're not ready." He further explained, now Joseph was all ears. "If I don't get students in here, I won't be able to teach you anything." Joey reminded him, "You've thought about advertising, right?" "Yeah, duh." He semi-lied. "Of course."

It was the next day. Joey and his friends sat at their usual table during lunch, Counselor Blatt speaking. "Cyberbullying is no laughing matter. Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face." The students were either on their phones, not caring. Miguel and Joey kept their eyes on the woman as they ate. "I'm not gonna name names, but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity." The teens all darted their eyes on Eli as he covered his scar. Joey sighed,  sick of their insults. "But today, our goal here is to make this school a safe space for all students." Miguel turned to the table. "If you're sick of getting bullied, our karate dojo's looking for recruits." Demetri turned it down with sarcasm. "Yeah, right. You hear that, Eli? A little karate training, and you're gonna kick some major ass." J: "He's serious, Demetri. Our sensei's the real deal." M: "Yeah, I'm sure we could get you both discounts." "As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face."

Counselor Blatt continued, "One last thing. While we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of sexy nurse, maybe try gender-neutral hospital employee." The students laughed. Joey's phone buzzed, a notification on the lock screen. PAPA: sent you a photo    

[foxesandferrets]

Baby Fever

@ainu, Claudia and I were talking about Kagehina and cats, and thus this silly thing was born. Thanks for always giving me inspiration, I love you guys <3

(Cat name by Ainu)

********                          ********

Kageyama wasn’t sure how he ended up there, with the smell of way too many animals in much too small a space filling his nostrils as Hinata looked around the room with wonder in his eyes. Except, he did know. He knew exactly how it happened, he was just baffled at how he let it get this far.

It had been several nights ago, when Hinata stretched across the couch and plopped his head in Kageyama’s lap, forcing him to move the sports magazine he was reading out of the way so he could pout up at him. The pout was met with a frown, which made a smile tug at Hinata’s lips, but he pushed it away.

“Tobiooooo,” he whined, adding puppy dog eyes to the expression.

“Your head is digging into my hip,” he answered, pretending to be uninterested.

“Oh, sorry.” Hinata scooted down, resting his head on the soft part of Kageyama’s thigh before looking back up. “Tobiooooo! I want a baby.”

Kageyama froze, going rigid as his face turned red hot. “You what?”

“I want a baby,” Hinata repeated, his pout spreading into a wide grin. “A cute chubby one that we can dress up in tiny volleyball clothes and spoil rotten. What do you think?”

“Shou,” Kageyama sputtered, suddenly feeling like some huge responsibility was weighing on his shoulders. A baby? He could barely take care of himself, and his mom still made monthly trips to make sure their fridge was full and the two of them hadn’t been crushed under a tower of unwashed clothes. “We...we aren’t even married. We can barely afford rent. You’re still in school. I work at a gym!”

“But I really want one,” he continued, rolling toward Kageyama to bury his face in his stomach. “Won’t our love be enough to support us?”

“Not when we need diapers and baby food and doctor's visits and cribs and,” Kageyama paused, stress crashing over him about how he would manage to provide for his dumb boyfriend and their nonexistent child. “We can’t. There’s no way. Shou we’re only 25 for fuck’s sake.”

“Fine, no baby,” Hinata mumbled against his shirt. “I’ll just wallow in sadness until the day I can love a tiny human and teach them all of my volleyball wisdom. But until then I’ll need something to fill the void in my heart. I think a kitten will do the job.”

Kageyama sighed a breath of relief. A kitten he could do. A kitten is manageable. And kibble and litter are much less expensive than formula and baby clothes.

“Fine.” He absentmindedly let his hand fall down to Hinata’s hair, running his fingers through that fiery orange that never burns. “We can go to a shelter this weekend.”

“Great!” Hinata rolled back over, beaming up at Kageyama as he pulled his phone from his pocket. “Look at this cute food and water bowl set I found, it has little fish on the sides. And this cat tree! It’s three levels, and there are feathers hanging from the top and a built in scratching post! And-,”

“Wait a minute,” Kageyama said, realization dawning on him. “You never wanted a baby, did you? You wanted a kitten all along and knew I’d say no.”

“No take backs, you already said yes!”

“You little bastard.”

Hinata blew a kiss upwards, but Kageyama just glared, not wanting to accept his defeat but knowing he’d lost. “I learned it from some boring show about marketing my mom was watching when I visited. It’s called door in the face technique. You start with something big, knowing it’ll get turned down, and then you give your real offer and they’re more likely to say yes. And it worked!”

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t get used to it, I’m onto you now,” he mumbled, reaching for his magazine.

“Sure, babe. Whatever you say.”

Hinata had spent the rest of the night picking out collars and toys for the kitten and shoving his phone in Kageyama’s face to gush about how cute they were. Eventually he had to wrestle the phone away to keep him from spending their food budget on a pink and gold self cleaning litter box.

On the drive to the shelter saturday morning Hinata was practically bouncing out of his seat, which wasn’t that much more distracting than his usual fidgeting, but enough to make Kageyama worry it was a driving hazard. As soon as the car was parked Hinata flew out, bounding up the concrete steps and through the shelter door. Kageyama followed, making sure to lock the car and taking the steps at a slower pace, and met up with Hinata behind a door that said plainly: ‘Cat Room.’

“There’s so many!” Hinata looked around amidst the roaring meows, frozen in place as he tried to choose where to start. He settled on the loudest one, a little black kitten with white sock paws that was practically screaming through the bars of his cage. Kageyama wondered how so much noise could come out of such a small creature. Hinata reached a hand out to the kitten, sticking his fingers through the bars despite the clear ‘Do not put hands in cage’ sign hanging above it, and quickly drew it back as the kitten latched on with clawed sock paws and shoved it into his mouth made of razors.

“Ow! Bad kitty!” Hinata frowned down at the thin line of blood forming on his finger. “Tobio! He cut me.”

“Read the sign, dumbass,” Kageyama answered, pointing at the paper. “They put that there for a reason. Cats are evil.”

“They are not!” Hinata gasped, looking offended. “They’re sweet little angels.”

“They’re killing machines, urged on by their anger over the fact that they’re too small to kill a human.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Hinata said, turning back to the cages but keeping his fingers to himself. “He’s just grumpy because he thinks animals don’t like him.”

That was true, but Kageyama wouldn’t admit it out loud. He never had a pet growing up, and every time he’d been introduced to a friend’s pet they seemed nonchalant towards him, usually ignoring him and going about their business. He even tried to approach stray cats around town that he had seen other’s feed, but they always flattened their ears and ran away. He wasn’t sure what he did wrong, or if it was just some presence he had that scared animals off, but he’d given up on trying to make them like him years ago.

Unsure of what he planned to achieve, he walked up to one of the cages, staring down at an older tabby with a soft face and sagging belly that showed she’d had multiple litters of kittens. Thinking of her stuck in there, all alone and without her babies, tugged at Kageyama’s heartstrings. He let out an exhale before nervously lifting his hand to the bars where she could sniff at his fingers but he could pull back quickly if she went on the attack. She was careful not to touch him with her nose as she smelled him curiously, and for a moment Kageyama thought she might actually let him pet her, but before he could attempt it she turned, sticking her tail straight up in the air as she made her way to the very back of the cage and flopped down.

“Oh, whatever,” he mumbled, sticking his tongue out at the cat and feeling dumb for acting so childish. “I didn’t want to pet you anyway.”

He sulked back toward the door, resting his back against the frame and shoving his hands in his pockets. He figured he might as well just wait for Hinata to pick, it’d be his cat anyway. It wouldn’t want anything to do with Kageyama.

He watched as Hinata darted around the room, cooing and clucking his tongue at different cats, all of which came up to the bars to greet him. Some let him gently rub their heads and some attempted to chew his fingers off, but all of them interacted with him somehow. Even the momma tabby came back to the bars when Hinata peered in at her, and Kageyama tried to ignore the sad bit of jealousy that climbed up his throat as she rubbed her cheek across his outstretched finger.

This is fine, he thought, as long as it makes Hinata happy I don’t need the cat to like me too.

Hinata knelt before one of the cages close to the floor, saying something about “what a pretty baby” to a disgruntled looking ball of gray fluff inside, and just above his head, Kageyama locked eyes with a pair of round blue eyes. The cat just stared at him, sitting patiently as if daring him to come over and talk to it. So he did. What did he have to lose?

The cat, a tiny orange thing with thick downy fur, sat just far enough away from the bars that Kageyama’s fingers couldn’t reach it, watching silently as he tried. It cocked its head to the side, as if it was interested in him but not quite sure if he was safe.

“Oh, that’s a pretty one,” Hinata said beside him, startling Kageyama as he quickly pulled his hand back. “Here kitty kitty.”

The cat immediately perked up when Hinata appeared, letting out a soft mew and pressing her face against the bars. Hinata rubbed his finger on the bridge of her nose and she started to purr.

“I think she likes you,” Kageyama said, checking the tag on her cage for the gender.

“Isn't she gorgeous, Tobio?” Hinata asked, rubbing at her chin as she flopped down and rolled over, stretching her paws out past the cage bars. “Look, she has your eyes!”

As if on cue the cat looked up at him, blue meeting blue. Kageyama ignored the sudden bit of affection he felt for the kitten, knowing it would only hurt him later. “Yeah, well, she has your hair,” he said, watching as the cat meowed loudly at Hinata, standing back up and trying to force her face through the bars to get closer to him and almost getting stuck. “And your stupidity.”

“Then it’s destiny!” Hinata turned, grabbing Kageyama’s hand and smiling wide. “She’s part me and part you. She’s our baby!”

“Don’t say weird shit, Shou,” Kageyama chided, looking back at the cat who paused her escape attempts to stare at him again. “It’s just a cat.”

“A perfect cat,” he continued. “Let’s take her home.”

“Are you sure that’s the one you want?”

Again with perfect timing, the cat reached out and latched a claw into Hinata’s shirt, meowing sadly at him as if she was afraid he’d leave her. He gently removed her claw and held her paw in his hand. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Kageyama called for an employee who came to transfer the cat into a cardboard travel box. As soon as the cage door was open the cat practically leapt at Hinata, landing in his arms as he frantically tried not to drop her. It took a full five minutes to get her off of Hinata and into the box, meowing loudly in protest the entire time.

She continued to yell at them until they were in the car and Hinata impatiently opened the box.

“Hey, dumbass! Don’t open that in here!” Kageyama called, thoughts of cats running under brake pedals and cars spinning out in fiery death spirals flashing in his mind.

“Don’t worry, she’ll behave. Won’t you?” The cat hopped easily out of the box and onto Hinata’s shoulder, nuzzling his neck and making him giggle. “Ah, your nose is cold!”

“Just keep a grip on her.”

“What’re we gonna call her, Tobio?”

Kageyama thought of all the cat names he knew, which wasn’t many.

“Uh, Fluffy? Whiskers? Those are cat names, yeah?”

“Boo,” Hinata pouted. “Those are so boring. She needs a unique name. Something super cool, like Spike!”

“Why would you name her Spike? Tosses are better.”

“You want to name the cat Toss?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Because it sounds ridiculous, that’s why not,” Hinata told him, moving the box to the floorboard and moving the cat to his lap where she curled up and purred loudly. “Besides, if we’re gonna name her after something you do why don’t we just call her Leaving-Wet-Towels-On-The-Bathroom-Floor?”

“Well if we name her after stuff you do we can call just her Coercing-My-Boyfriend-Into-Buying-Me-A-Kitten.”

“Let’s name her after something we both love,” Hinata said, waving away the faux argument. “What’s something you love?”

“You.”

“Oh, shut up, this is serious,” Hinata said, trying to play off the way the answer made his cheeks tinge pink. Kageyama smiled to himself. Hinata was so cute when he was caught off guard.

“Fine. Uh, volleyball, milk, those little oddly shaped m&ms that end up in the bag sometimes and are way more candy shell than chocolate.”

“Those are terrible names,” Hinata giggled, his hand moving softly over the lightly dozing kitten.

“My turn. I love spiking, but you already shot that one down, eating cookie dough, when you get to the subway really early and the seats are still cold and it feels like the world is still sleeping.”

“Shou, you can’t name a cat after a feeling. Think of one word things.”

“Okay, okay. I love meatbuns.”

“Me too,” Kageyama said, turning to look at Hinata and raising an eyebrow as if to ask ‘is that it?’

“Nikupan,” Hinata said, smiling down at the cat. “We can all her Niku for short.”

“Well, it’s unique.”

“Then it’s perfect. We’re gonna take such good care of you, Niku.”

***

As Kageyama expected, Niku could not care less about him. He tried for a while, buying her special treats and toys and giving them to her when Hinata wasn’t home, but she always ignored him and eventually he gave up. She slept in their bed but always curled up near Hinata’s feet where Kageyama couldn’t reach her. And when Hinata was home she was glued to his side. They were  inseparable, and even though it hurt him a little he was  just glad that Niku made Hinata happy.

Though, she didn’t just love Hinata. When their friends and family came over she warmed up quickly to them too. Everyone was enamored with her, laughing as she played with bits of string or meowed loudly at them, demanding to be picked up.

But that was all fine, Kageyama decided. They didn’t have to get along. He’d leave her alone, and she’d keep on avoiding him, and everything would be fine.

That is, until Hinata went to visit his mom and sister for a weekend, and Kageyama couldn’t take off of work to accompany him, leaving him and Niku home alone for two days. It was longer than they’d ever spent together without Hinata, and Kageyama would be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid of how it would go.

The first day was fine. He didn’t see her at all, no tuft of orange fur sticking out from under the couch or flash of fire as she disappeared around a corner. The only way he knew she was even there was the steadily emptying food bowl in the kitchen. That night he rolled over in his sleep, reaching for Hinata and instead getting a handful of cat, eyes flying open to find Niku perched precariously on the edge of the bed where she probably thought Kageyama couldn’t reach her. She was gone faster than he could pull his hand back, retreating out of the room and down the hall, clearly betrayed by his audacity.

The next morning was the same. No sign of Niku anywhere. Kageyama sighed, filling her food and water bowls, and left for work.

That evening, Kageyama’s heart sank as he unlocked the door and stepped into the kitchen, his eyes immediately falling to Niku’s food bowl, which was completely untouched.

“Oh no,” he whispered, immediately pulling open cabinets and hoping she got herself stuck somewhere in the house. “Kitty kitty! Niku, kitty, where are you?” He crawled around the house, searching under every piece of furniture and in every nook and cranny he could think of. Normally he would feel like an idiot crawling around and meowing, but all he could see was a little orange kitten in the belly of some wild animal and Hinata telling him how much he hated him for letting his best friend get out.

The only place left to to check was the bedroom, but by that point Kageyama’s heart was in his stomach, and it sank even further when he saw the little hole ripped in the screen of the window above the dresser. “Oh shit,” he breathed, running to the window and looking out. All he saw was the alley between their building and the one beside it, shadows growing across it as the sun began to set, and a rather large stray dog sniffing around a dumpster. He knew he’d never be able to find her without Hinata’s help, and Hinata would be furious and probably break up with him when he found out.

“Niku?” He yelled, making an old woman walking by the mouth of the alley stop at stare at him, but he didn’t care.There was a high pitched meow from below, so soft he almost missed it, sending a rush of adrenaline through his veins. “Niku!”

The meow caught the attention of the stray dog, causing it to rush over and start barking at the dumpster and pawing beneath it, sniffing and snarling.

“Hey! Leave her alone you dumbass dog!” The dog paid no attention to Kageyama, too occupied by the kitten cries that were coming from the dumpster. Suddenly remembering that his legs worked, Kageyama turned and sprinted from the bedroom and back out the front door. He took the stairs three at a time, praying that he’d make it in time to save Niku, and it wasn’t until he skid to a stop halfway down the alley that he realized he had no idea how to scare the dog off.

From this angle he could see the little orange cat under the dumpster backed up against the building, the dog’s paws inches away from her. She was puffed up twice her size and hissing as intimidatingly as she could, but the dog was unphased.

“Dammit,” Kageyama hissed, searching the ground for something he could use to scare the dog. His eyes landed on a rusted metal baking tray and the broken handle of a baseball bat, which he scooped up and continued running toward the dog.

“Hey dumbass!” He yelled, banging the bat against the tray as hard as he could. The sound reverberated between the buildings, making the dog stop to look up at him. “Go eat someone else’s cat!” As he got closer the dog’s eyes went wide, the sound growing bigger and louder, and it turned to scamper back the way it came.

Without hesitating Kageyama dropped to his knees beside the dumpster, calling out to Niku. He figured she wouldn’t budge, and he’d have to stay in that alley with her until Hinata got home and could coax her out, but the second those fearful blue eyes met his he was bombarded by a ball of fluff. Her claws dug through his shirt and into his chest, but he didn’t care. She was safe.

“It’s okay, little kitty,” he whispered, standing up and clutching her to his chest as she shivered. “You’re safe now.”

Niku stayed latched to him as they made their way back to the apartment, and still wouldn’t let go as Kageyama shut the heavy window. He tried to get her to eat but she would just meow in protest until he picked her back up. Finally, he gave up and went to bed, letting her curl up and sleep on his chest, and, for the first time, Kageyama felt Niku purr.

Kageyama woke up late that night to the sound of Hinata’s keys in the door. He tried to creep silently into the bedroom, but froze when Kageyama flipped on the lamp.

“Hey, did I wake y-,” he froze, eyes going wide as he saw the ball of orange sleeping soundly on Kageyama’s chest. “Tobio! She likes you!”

“Shhh, don’t wake her. As soon as she sees you she’ll forget all about me again,” Kageyama smiled, gently petting Niku.

Hinata kicked off his shoes and changed his clothes before crawling into bed beside the pair. He laid his head on Kageyama’s shoulder, letting their fingers intertwine in the cat’s fur. “Looks like you guys had quite a weekend. What’d you get up to?”

“Let’s just say we had an adventure.”

“Boo, Tobio, no fair,” Hinata pouted.

“I saved her from a hungry dog that tried to swallow her whole.”

Hinata snorted. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. If you don’t want to tell me your cat charming secrets it’s fine.”

Hinata snuggled closer and Kageyama switched the lamp off, letting himself fall back asleep. Before it came, in that space between waking and sleeping that both exists and doesn’t, he figured he was happy with his little family, and after years of waiting, he was glad that Niku was the first animal to accept him, just like Hinata was the first boy to love him. Finally, everything in his life felt perfect.

***

Niku was slightly inspired by my wild kitty Ian, who is constantly causing trouble but is just too cute to stay mad at. You can find more of my cat pics here, or follow me on instagram! 

[steelfeather]

Young Hearts (A Peter Parker x Reader Imagine)

Request: Yes, by @lots-of-liz (Hope you like it love!)

Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: You’ve developed a crush on your friend, Peter, and you’re not sure what to do about it. Also included: study date!

Ships: Peter Parker x Reader

Warnings: Honestly, none. This is about as fluffy and cute as they come!

Taglist: @quacksonss, @yoinkpenisparker, @quackmom, & @friendlyneighbourhood-transbiboy 

*A/N: I’ve been sick and miserable these past couple of days, so I decided to write a fic Liz requested and the fluff has done my heart good. <3 I also realized while editing that the reader can be gender-neutral, which is a huge plus! Please enjoy. :)

You knock timidly on the door, trying to restrain your nerves. You aren't sure why you’ve started feeling uneasy around Peter recently; the two of you have known each other for an eternity and a half, but somehow you feel like throwing up whenever he smiles at you now.

Maybe it was inevitable; everyone said friends often became more. But you think it has more to do with the new confidence you can see in Peter. He’s still awkward, and he still blushes easily, but there is something running under the surface, a hint of steel that baffles you.

When had Peter Parker started to grow up?

The door swings open to reveal his aunt May, her hair pulled back and stylish glasses perched on her nose. May used to intimidate you, because she seemed so smart and capable, but you quickly learned that she was sweet and really protective of the people around her, and now you adore her.

"Hi," she says, stepping aside for you to enter. "He's in his room, you can just head on in."

As you head down the hallway, you think you can hear Peter talking, but he must hear you coming, because his voice cuts off and you can hear scuffling inside the room. Your cheeks heat at the possibility that you interrupted a conversation, so you knock on his bedroom door, not wanting to intrude.

A second later, Peter opens it, looking just slightly flustered.

"Hey," he says breathlessly. "You're early."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry..."

"No!" he blurts out, looking horrified. "I didn't mean it like that, I just... wasn't expecting you yet, that's all." He rubs the back of his neck and you can see muscle definition in his arms that definitely wasn't there a year ago. You blush, eyes dropping to the floor. "Please," he tells you, sounding more sincere. "Come in."

You walk past him and sit on his bottom bunk, not quite able to meet his eyes yet, before you notice something missing.

"Ned's not here yet?"

His face turns red, and you wonder if he's angry until he speaks. "Um, Ned couldn't make it today, but we can still study, right?" You wonder for a second if maybe he's blushing, but dismiss the thought as ridiculous. Peter's never seen you the way you see him.

"Sure," you say, smiling softly up at him. "That's okay." You frantically try to calm your heart at the thought that the two of you are alone; Peter closed his door as you walked in, the way he always has, and you're painfully aware of the privacy you have.

He sits on the bed next to you and pulls out his backpack-- it's new, you've almost lost count of how many backpacks he's had this year-- and pulls out the chemistry book you're studying in class. You do the same, flipping to the portion you're struggling with, and start showing him what you don't understand.

It's an open secret that Peter is one of the best study partners at Midtown Tech, especially when it comes to chemistry. He usually doesn't even need to study, so he really should be charging people for tutoring, but he always patiently helps his friends with their homework.

As the two of you fall into comfortable territory, your nervousness abates somewhat. You're still painfully aware of how beautiful he is, and how adorable his voice is when he gets excited and it squeaks, but this is something the two of you have been doing for almost as long as you've known each other, and it feels warm and safe.

When May comes in with snacks for you two, you are shocked to realize you've been working for an hour and you're almost two thirds of the way through. The two of you jerk apart a little as she comes in, almost guiltily, and you could swear you see her hide a small smile. Part of May's ability to intimidate stems from the fact that she always seems to know more about what's going on than you want her to.

"Okay, kids," she says. "I brought some junk food. Nobody's starving here."

"Thanks, Aunt May," Peter says, and your heart lurches when you see how sweetly he looks at his aunt.

"Yeah, thank you," you add, after a pause that's only a bit too long to be polite. When she leaves, she doesn't quite latch the door.

You go back to studying, and the two of you relax by degrees. Eventually, instead of sitting on the edge of the bed, your backs are against the wall behind his bed.

Somehow, you end up next to each other, shoulders and arms touching. Without thinking, you prop your legs over Peter's, something you've done a thousand times before, then freeze as you realize what you've done.

Peter doesn't move for a second, just looking at your jean clad thighs slung across his lap, then seems to make a decision. He sets his arms on top of your legs with the book still in his hands, and continues explaining the latest thing you don't understand.

You struggle to breathe evenly at the feeling of his forearms resting on you, the warmth spreading through you to your heart and wreaking havoc on your stomach as butterflies dance there. After a few moments, you tentatively lay your head on his shoulder, still looking at the textbook, and he shifts so that you can be more comfortable. He doesn't say anything about it, just continues to teach you, and your eyes are almost drooping in a moment.

"...And then I told Ned, I can always make a living as an exotic dancer if the Stark Internship doesn't work out," he's saying as you tune back in.

Your cheeks flame as his words hit home, and you scramble back from him, eyes wide. He laughs at you, the laugh you only hear rarely, and it's joyful and free, but you're still embarrassed. You throw a pillow at him.

"Jerk!" But you can't suppress the hint of a laugh bubbling in your words.

He grins from ear to ear, then tosses a pillow back at you. It hits your face far harder than you were expecting, so you shriek a war cry and launch yourself at him. He catches your wrists in his hands and turns so that you hit the mattress, missing him completely.

You look up at his smirking face and remember the judo training you insisted on having since you were little. Using his mass against him, you roll and unbalance him, until you're hovering over him and laughing breathlessly. His eyes widen.

"When did you get so strong?" he asks, voice high and as adorable as you've ever heard it.

"It's not about strength, dork," you respond. "Don't you pay attention in Physics?"

You don't have enough time to register his change in expression before he flips you, catching you off guard with his strength, and starts tickling you.

"Peter!" you squeal. "No fair!"

"You attacked first," he insists gleefully, not letting up in the slightest.

Your giggles turn breathless, but you refuse to beg, secretly enjoying the mischievous look in his eyes. Eventually, he slows and stops, and you catch your breath at the look in his eyes.

He almost looks... tender. Like he used to when he would stare at Liz. God, you wanted to hate her so much, but you couldn't hate anyone Peter loved.

You realize the position the two of you are in. Peter's hovering over you, his hands still on your waist, his face close to yours, and your breath locks in your throat. He draws closer to you, eyelashes fluttering, and you can't breathe.

Is he really about to kiss you? You've never been kissed before. What would it feel like? What if you're bad at it?

His eyes close as his fingers flex on your waist, and you can feel his breath on your lips. At the last moment, you panic, a squeak rising in your throat, and pull back.

Peter lets go of you immediately, standing by the bed so he isn't invading your space, and he looks horrified. "I'm sorry," he says, regret written all over his face. "I didn't mean to... I wasn't trying to..."

You fight past the sick feeling in your stomach that's telling you you just ruined everything, and lay a hand on his incredibly distracting forearm. 

"Peter, it's okay," you reassure him. "I'm... I'm not upset." Then, trying to explain yourself better: "There's nothing to apologize for."

His shoulders are a little slumped and because you know him so well, you recognize it as a sign that his feelings are hurt. You want to cry.

But he just smiles at you, almost convincingly, and says, "Well, I guess it's getting pretty late, huh?"

You take the hint and gather your books together, lips trembling a little. He walks you to the front door and you don't see any sign of May.

At the door, you watch him search for words before simply saying, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?" And he looks so hopeful that you let yourself believe he doesn't hate you.

You know that this will probably be your only chance to clear things up. You and Peter are awkward enough that if nothing happens right now, you'll both end up pretending today never happened.

So you screw up every piece of courage you own, and you ask, "Peter?" in a shaky voice.

When he looks down at you, you grab the collar of his button-down and drag him down to your level, pressing your lips gently to his. His lips are soft and he parts his mouth a little in surprise, and you can taste the hot chocolate on his breath from earlier.

It's not exactly how you expected kissing to feel, but it's nice. He feels warm and safe, and you feel one of his hands go to your waist after a second, the other threading into your hair.

Overwhelmed, you break away, forehead resting against his as his eyes blink open dazedly.

"Yes," you tell him, "you'll definitely see me tomorrow."

Before he can react, you turn and speed-walk down the hallway, one hand over your mouth, unable to contain a smile as you relive the sensation of Peter's lips on yours.

You don't see him pumping both fists in the air, a grin spreading from ear to ear as he blushes.